Tesla rival inspires Ford CEO Jim Farley's push for EV profitability

In conscionable a mates of years, sentiment toward Ford Model e, the company's electrical conveyance division, has swung from optimistic to pessimistic and back.

It each came to a caput successful 2025.

Model e had its champion period of income ever arsenic buyers flocked to dealerships to instrumentality vantage of the $7,500 EV taxation recognition that expired successful September.

• 2025: $3.6 billion (through 3 quarters)

• 2024: $5.1 billion

• 2023: $4.7 billion

• 2022: $2.2 billion

However, contempt those sales, Ford mislaid $1.4 cardinal connected its EV part successful the 3rd 4th owed to spending connected caller products and accrued competition, according to Ford. Through 3 quarters, the institution said it mislaid $3.6 cardinal connected EVs, with astir $3 cardinal of the loss attributed to its first-generation EV products, including the Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, Puma, Explorer, and Capri. The remainder is from investments successful its next-generation vehicles.

Coming into the year, Ford expected Model e to suffer astir $5 billion, and the bully feelings astir EV adoption person dissipated nether the caller statesmanlike administration.

While EV income reached a grounds 12% U.S. marketplace stock during the archetypal 3 quarters of the year, that fig fell to 5% successful the 4th quarter.

Ford CEO Jim Farley precocious gave a wide-ranging interrogation to Bloomberg.

During the interview, Fareley spoke candidly astir the wealth Ford is losing connected its EVs and its program to crook things around.

Related: Popular Ford pickup faces expanded NHTSA probe implicit unsafe issue

When Farley was asked why, aft billions upon billions of losses, helium was assured that Ford could crook astir its fortunes and marque Model e profitable by 2029, helium said helium got his inspiration from Tesla rival, Chinese electrical conveyance shaper BYD.

• China: 6.4 cardinal EVs sold

• Europe: 2.2 cardinal EVs sold

• U.S.: 1.2 cardinal EVs sold

• Rest of world: 1 cardinal EVs sold
  Source: International Energy Agency

"We deliberation to marque that concern profitable, we person to get to a BYD cost," Farley told Bloomberg past month. "And truthful this skunkworks task called the Universe Electric Vehicle that we're making successful Kentucky, that is designed to lucifer the BYD outgo successful Mexico."

BYD cars spell for betwixt $18,000 and $53,000 USD connected the precocious extremity successful Mexico, wherever it already accounts for astir 70% of EV sales, according to Bloomberg.

But determination is 1 distinguishing origin for Ford that BYD can't vie with.

"We are present to vie globally. We're not going to cede our aboriginal to the Chinese. The Chinese don't cognize motortruck customers arsenic we do," Farley said, referring to Ford's industry-leading F-series pickups.